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New West Coast Design: Books
Curators: Mary Austin & Kathleen Burch
In the Gallery Jan 25-Apr 25, 2008
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 Antarktos: Magnitudes of Black
Black inks (magnitude 1-3), graphite, printing ink, pastel, and Antarctic detritus on paper Engaging techniques both traditional and unusual, from watercolor and embossing to metalwork and tooling, Ely makes books inspired by conceptual art and the mind-bending landscapes of sacred geometry, alchemy, and particle physics. His practice of the craft of bookbinding has extended to include metalworking, leatherworking, woodworking, and related disciplines. He exploits traditional and modern techniques of bewildering variety - even making his own inks from caramelized seaweed. He originated and teaches his "drum leaf" binding, a technique for binding single sheets that is designed to bind difficult materials in the standard technology of book-manufacturing like paintings, prints and drawings and mounted photographs. Regarding Ely's practice of calligraphy: because he is left-handed, he taught himself to letter via several methods - in reverse, automatically in a very light trance, and in an alien language. He calls this "Cribriform." Timothy Ely states: "Bookbinding is an art of the sensual as well as a carrier for the literary or textual aspects of the writer's intent. As a device, is it fraught with metaphor, much like weaving. "Bookbinding becomes a platform for visual experiments and material connection. In my books an alchemy of place is a critical element. Materials are gathered from all over the world - both formally as through a purchase or clandestinely by fellow collectors that shake the sand from their shoes after a walk around a pyramid and this sand finds its way to me. "I work from and I am inspired by historical models of books. Many have been made that mimic the Ethiopian or Northern European styles and these are like the circuit-boards of civilization - one must only provide a power source for the reading machine." | |||
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